Impregnated fibrous article



0d. 11, 1938. H, w BALDWlN 2,132,554

IMPREGNATED FIBROUS ARTICLE Filed Aug 10, .1955

INVENTOR,

fig 145/12 .Ba/JW/h BY W Y ATIiORNEYS Patented a. 11, 1938 PATENT OFFICE IMPBEGNATED FIBROUS ARTICLE Henry ward Baldwin, Saegertown Pa assignor to Baldwin'Laboratories, Inc., Saaegertown, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 10, 1935, Serial No. 35,685

2 Claims.

This invention relates to manufacture of impregnated articles; and it comprises an article of fibrous material having a uniform texture containing absorbed therein spaced parallel tracks of a volatile liquid, such as perfume, the volatile liquid, tracks substantially penetrating said absorbent material and the spaces between said tracks containing substantially less of said volatile liquid than said tracks; all as more fully hereinafter set forth and as claimed.

In the prior art, the impregnation of paper and similar materials by liquids has been effected usually by spraying the liquid onto the material to be impregnated, according to any of the known spraying methods, most frequently by hand; or by dipping the material into the liquid: These modes of procedure, however, involve numerous permeate the entire material.

minimum. loss by volatilization, an economical use disadvantages. The dipping method is quite noncommercial, since it -uses by far too large an amount of material and often tends to damage the material treated. As to the spraying method,

in order to obtain a uniform distribution, the liquid is sprayed over the entire surface of the material to be impregnated, which results in a large amount of liquid being used unnecessarily.

uid tracks which penetrate the absorbent material and from which the fluid gradually tends to of. the liquid, and it: eliminates the hazard of fire encountered in the spraying method.

While various methods may be used to pro-- duce impregnation of the articles'of the present invention, one impregnating machine, which If have found very useful, will be briefly described.

- In this machine a set of three rolls, advantageously'driven from; a common drive, is provided.

in which the top and. bottom. rolls are made with a continuous surface while the middle roll. is arranged in sections.

as felt, clamped between metal portions... These annular rings, which have a. slightly: greater di:- ameter than the metal portions, come-in contact with both. the top and bottom: rolls. The bottom.

. roll is partly submerged in a tanlrcontaining the said sheet.

This results in a.

Each of these-sections com prises an annular ring of absorbentmaterial, such.

impregnating liquid, and when rotated feeds the liquid to that portion of the felt rings in contact therewith. The material to be impregnated is fed between the top roll and the upper portion of the felt rings, which when rotated, transfer the liquid absorbed from the bottom roll to the material to be impregnated.

The individual sections of the center roll are spaced according to the distance desired between the liquid tracks on the material, and the portions of the felt rings protruding above the surfaces of the holding members are adjustable. It is also possible, of course, to employ felt rings of varying'widths. By these means the amount of liquid conveyed to the material to be impregnated can be readily predetermined and waste of the impregnating liquid is substantially eliminated.

My invention is illustrated in the accompany- .ing drawing which represents a perspective view of a sheet of absorbent material impregnated with spaced parallel tracks of a volatile liquid which loses its value upon volatilization, part of this view being a longitudinal section through The thickness of the sheet is exaggerated in order to show the impregnating liquid more clearly. In this showing the impregnating liquid is shown in dotted lines, the density of impregnation being indicated by the spacing of these lines. The legends of the drawing are believed to make the drawing itself explanatory. The longitudinal section is taken through one of the tracks of volatile liquid.

My invention has many obvious advantages. I have found, for example, that when impregnation is accomplished in the form. of spaced liquid tracks, the loss by volatilization is much less than when the impregnation is uniform. I attribute this to the fact that the liquid surface exposed to the air is greatly reduced. In one case the resulting relatively thick strips of liquid present a small surface of exposure while in the other case the whole surface area is impregnated and exposed to loss by volatilization.- In particular I have found that blotters impregnated with perfume by my method retain their odor several times as long. as similar blotters which have had their surfaces uniformly impregnatedf with the same amount of perfume. It is therefore evident that the present invention aifordsa substantial saving both in cost' of impregnating materials as well as in labor.

One of the most advantageous embodiments of my inventionis a blotter impregnated withperfumes. for advertising purposes. I usually impregnate large sheets of blotting paper and then cut these sheets up in such manner as to obtain a a single fluid track across each blotter. In this manner an important saving in impresnatin: material is realized but, on account of the particular manner in which impr ation is accomplished, the blotters retain the aroma of the perfume for a long period of time. i

Any type or manufactured, fibrous absorbent material can be used in making-the articles of thepresent invention, for example textile materials, paper, leather and the like. And these articles can be impregnated with various types of liquids losing their value upon volatilization. The machine described briefly above may be adapted to impregnate irregularly shaped arti- .cles by suitable shaping of the rolls and by providing flexible felt strips oif considerable width, hence my invention is not limited to articles 0! sheet material.

Other modifications which fall within the scope of the following claims will be immediately evident to those skilled in the art/ ,What I claim is:

1. As a new article or manufacture, a manufactured, fibrous, absorbent material having a uni-4 form texture containing absorbed therein spaced parallel tracks of a volatile liquid losing its value upon volatilization, the volatile liquid tracks substantially penetrating said absorbent material and thespaces between said tracks containing substantially less oi. said volatile liquidthan said tracks.

2. A perfumed blotter containing absorbed therein spaced parallel tracks of perfume. the perfume in said tracks substantially penetrating esaid blotter and the spaces between said perfumed tracks containing substantially less perfume than said tracks.

HENRY WARD BALDWIN. m 

